Madura College
American College did not have a master’s programme in mathematics; only Thiagarjar College and Madura College did. Admitted to both, I chose Madura College and resided in hostel. In American College, all hostels were gated and residents were expected to be back in their hostels by 8:30 p.m. Every hostel had resident Hall Superintendents and a Hall Warden, all teaching faculty. Hostel life was guided by well laid-down rules and regulations. In contrast, hostels in Madura College were open and resident students moved around freely without any strict rules and regulations. I will admit that I had difficulty in coping with the total freedom.
(Left) Group photo of Mathematics M.Sc. class with professors 1963-1965. I am standing second from the left. (Right) I believe that this group photo is of administrators and student leaders celebrating Hostel Day in 1964. I am standing second from right in the second row. I think I was First-year M.Sc. class representative.
Madurai Kamaraj University
I did my Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) in mathematics, a relatively a new programme, at Madurai Kamaraj University during the academic year 1969-1970. The Madurai Kamaraj University itself was rather a new university started in 1965-66 academic year. Below is a picture of my M.Phil class. Prof. Kolchin was a visiting scholar and Dr.T.P. Meenakshisundaran was the vice-chancellor. It is interesting to observe that there was no non-Brahmin faculty in the mathematics department and I was the only non-Brahmin student in the whole class.
